Kenneth Branagh has spent quite a bit of time playing Hercule Poirot over the past few years, and this is certainly a case where practice has made perfect in this excellent adaptation of Agatha Christie's Halloween Party.
Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is burnt out, and has gone into retirement, dealing with as few people as he can. Assisting him in his hermitlike existence in Venice is his bodyguard, Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio). Poirot seems perfectly satisfied with his existence until one day when Portfoglio presents Poirot with an apple from a visitor who claims that Poirot will know who she is and want to see her. Poirot asks that the visitor be shown to him, and receives Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), a friend and author who rose to fame when she wrote about Poirot many years earlier. She invites him to come to a Halloween party and seance at a house which used to serve as an orphanage during the time the plague was running rampant in Venice. The building has been cursed since the resident children were locked in and left to die of the plague. Once at the party, Poirot meets the current owner, opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) who recently lost her daughter. Alicia (Rowan Robinson) to suicide. After the party, the seance is held by Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) in Alicia's room, in hopes of contacting Alicia. Also in attendance are Ariadne; Portfoglio; Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), Alicia's fiance; Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan), Alicia's doctor and Rowena's longtime friend and possible love interest; Leopold Ferrier (Jude Hill), Leslie's son; and Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), Alicia's nurse. Assisting Mrs. Reynolds is Desdemona Holland (Emma Laird). Ever the skeptic, Poirot manages to debunk Mrs. Reynold's seance by exposing her other assistant, Alessandro Longo (Amir El-Mazry), Desdemona's half brother, who has been hiding in the chimney. As he is preparing to leave for the night, Poirot confronts Mrs. Reynolds about her fraudulent activities. She is unremorseful. An attempt is then unsuccessfully made on Poirot's life, followed almost immediately by the successful murder of Mrs. Reynolds. Poirot then locks everyone else in the house, and declares that no one will leave until he has found the murderer. A raging thunderstorm which renders the canals of Venice impassable helps keep everyone in the house while Poirot and Ariadne investigate.
This is a first rate adaptation, so the writing is excellent, giving us compelling characters, each of whom has a reason to commit a murder, brought together in a tense situation, who reveal themselves through their interviews with Poirot. Strange events happen, which could be supernatural or could be explained, an ambiguity which propels the story to the very end. The house is atmospheric, and the thunderstorm contributes to the tension of the story. The reveal is particular masterful, putting together clues that have been sprinkled throughout the story in such a way that it seems to be the only logical conclusion.
The movie was well cast, and the acting is superb. Kelly Reilly gives an excellent turn as the grieving mother (most likely using her real accent in this film). Jamie Dornan's tortured doctor is well played, and Jude Hill's precocious child who cares for his father as much as his father cares for him is brilliantly handled. Emma Laird and Amir El-Mazry manage to be by turns sinister and sympathetic. Camille Cottin's pious yet tortured nurse is quite believable and Riccardo Scamarcio is excellent as the bodyguard who knows more than he lets on. Michelle Yeoh is excellent as always as Mrs. Reynolds, making the most of her limited screen time. Tina Fey gives an excellent performance in a dramatic role, although she does manage to provide some comic relief during the film. Mostly, though, the film belongs to Kenneth Branagh, who plays Poirot's befuddled curiosity to perfection, as he gradually unravels the mystery in which he finds himself. He carries the film with ease, portraying both Poirot's relentlessness and compassion with total credibility.
The ghostly elements of the movie are particularly well done, giving some real scares in a plot that specifically sets out to debunk anything supernatural. The ultimate denouement is somewhat ambiguous, but still quite believable, making for a most satisfying conclusion.
Overall, this is an excellent film, guaranteed to keep you guessing until the end while it provides a shiver or two. So sit back, and prepare to go to a most unusual Halloween party...
Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is burnt out, and has gone into retirement, dealing with as few people as he can. Assisting him in his hermitlike existence in Venice is his bodyguard, Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio). Poirot seems perfectly satisfied with his existence until one day when Portfoglio presents Poirot with an apple from a visitor who claims that Poirot will know who she is and want to see her. Poirot asks that the visitor be shown to him, and receives Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), a friend and author who rose to fame when she wrote about Poirot many years earlier. She invites him to come to a Halloween party and seance at a house which used to serve as an orphanage during the time the plague was running rampant in Venice. The building has been cursed since the resident children were locked in and left to die of the plague. Once at the party, Poirot meets the current owner, opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) who recently lost her daughter. Alicia (Rowan Robinson) to suicide. After the party, the seance is held by Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) in Alicia's room, in hopes of contacting Alicia. Also in attendance are Ariadne; Portfoglio; Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), Alicia's fiance; Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan), Alicia's doctor and Rowena's longtime friend and possible love interest; Leopold Ferrier (Jude Hill), Leslie's son; and Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), Alicia's nurse. Assisting Mrs. Reynolds is Desdemona Holland (Emma Laird). Ever the skeptic, Poirot manages to debunk Mrs. Reynold's seance by exposing her other assistant, Alessandro Longo (Amir El-Mazry), Desdemona's half brother, who has been hiding in the chimney. As he is preparing to leave for the night, Poirot confronts Mrs. Reynolds about her fraudulent activities. She is unremorseful. An attempt is then unsuccessfully made on Poirot's life, followed almost immediately by the successful murder of Mrs. Reynolds. Poirot then locks everyone else in the house, and declares that no one will leave until he has found the murderer. A raging thunderstorm which renders the canals of Venice impassable helps keep everyone in the house while Poirot and Ariadne investigate.
This is a first rate adaptation, so the writing is excellent, giving us compelling characters, each of whom has a reason to commit a murder, brought together in a tense situation, who reveal themselves through their interviews with Poirot. Strange events happen, which could be supernatural or could be explained, an ambiguity which propels the story to the very end. The house is atmospheric, and the thunderstorm contributes to the tension of the story. The reveal is particular masterful, putting together clues that have been sprinkled throughout the story in such a way that it seems to be the only logical conclusion.
The movie was well cast, and the acting is superb. Kelly Reilly gives an excellent turn as the grieving mother (most likely using her real accent in this film). Jamie Dornan's tortured doctor is well played, and Jude Hill's precocious child who cares for his father as much as his father cares for him is brilliantly handled. Emma Laird and Amir El-Mazry manage to be by turns sinister and sympathetic. Camille Cottin's pious yet tortured nurse is quite believable and Riccardo Scamarcio is excellent as the bodyguard who knows more than he lets on. Michelle Yeoh is excellent as always as Mrs. Reynolds, making the most of her limited screen time. Tina Fey gives an excellent performance in a dramatic role, although she does manage to provide some comic relief during the film. Mostly, though, the film belongs to Kenneth Branagh, who plays Poirot's befuddled curiosity to perfection, as he gradually unravels the mystery in which he finds himself. He carries the film with ease, portraying both Poirot's relentlessness and compassion with total credibility.
The ghostly elements of the movie are particularly well done, giving some real scares in a plot that specifically sets out to debunk anything supernatural. The ultimate denouement is somewhat ambiguous, but still quite believable, making for a most satisfying conclusion.
Overall, this is an excellent film, guaranteed to keep you guessing until the end while it provides a shiver or two. So sit back, and prepare to go to a most unusual Halloween party...
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